ALEX KOJO AHIAVE vs. KWAME SASU [2016]DLCA7970

Date	2016-04-14
Suit No.	Civil Appeal Suit No: H1/10/15
Citation No.	[2016]DLCA7970

GYAESAYOR JA (PRESIDING)

ACQUAYE JA

DZAMEFE JA

NAA O. NORTEY FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLANT

JEAN MAURELLET FOR PLAINTIFF/RESPONDENT

[2016]DLCA7970
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >ALEX KOJO AHIAVE<o:p></o:p>(PLAINTIFF/
RESPONDENT)<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>KWAME
SASU<o:p></o:p>(DEFENDANT/
APPELLANT)<o:p></o:p>[COURT OF APPEAL, ACCRA]<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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Civil Appeal Suit No: H1/10/15&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;DATE: 14TH April, 2016<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL:<o:p></o:p>NAA O.
NORTEY FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLANT<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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JEAN MAURELLET FOR PLAINTIFF/RESPONDENT<o:p></o:p>

</div>CORAM:<o:p></o:p>GYAESAYOR JA (PRESIDING), ACQUAYE JA, DZAMEFE JA<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border-top:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;border:none;
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</div>GYAESAYOR, JA<o:p></o:p>The
defendant/appellant in this appeal is seeking to reverse the judgment of the
High Court dated 25th day of April 2012.&nbsp; That judgment granted ownership of the
disputed land to the plaintiff/respondent.&nbsp;
The defendant/appellant on 2nd May 2012 filed the notice of
appeal to challenge the decision of the High Court.&nbsp; Before I deal with the grounds of appeal I
intend to give a brief history of the case which culminated in this appeal.<o:p></o:p>It
is the case of the plaintiff/respondent that he became the owner of the
disputed land at Tantra hills as a result of a gift to him by one Madam Mary
Prempeh sometime in 1980.&nbsp; By his
statement of claim, he averred that his grantor also got the land as a gift
from Dr. Charles Elias Reindorf, the then head and lawful representative of the
Onamrokor Adain family.&nbsp; The plaintiff
claimed to have erected corner pillars and dug foundation for the construction
work on the land.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>In
recent times according to the plaintiff, the defendant who claimed to have
acquired title to the same piece of land from the Onamrokor family, had
constructed a fence wall and attempting to build a residential facility.
Subsequently, the statement of claim was amended with leave of the court and
this was filed on 20th June 2011.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The
amended statement of defence was filed on 23rd April 2011. The
defendant denied every material allegation by the plaintiff and said the land
is a subject of a lease between him and Nii Quarshie Solomon acting head and
lawful representative of the Onamrokor Adain family of Accra for a period of 99
years.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>After
acquiring the land, he went into possession by erecting a fence wall around the
perimeter of the land.&nbsp; He then put up a
dwelling house on one of the plots and a structure on the second plot, put in a
caretaker and allowed him to farm on it.&nbsp;
It was bare land when he acquired it.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The
defendant further averred that he was on the land from 1988 and it was not
until April 2009 when plaintiff/respondent started laying claim to the
land.&nbsp; The defendant denied receiving any
letter from plaintiff’s lawyer in 2009 because he was at all material times in
the USA.&nbsp; He then proceeded to plead the
limitation decree NRCD 54 of 1972.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>After
taking evidence, the trial court gave its judgment.&nbsp; I found no evidence on record that a fresh
application for directions was filed and neither do I find evidence that a
reply was filed to the amended statement of defence filed by the appellant. The
notice of appeal can be found at page 146 of the ROA.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>Grounds of Appeal<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
i.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
The learned trial judge’s
finding that the land being claimed by the plaintiff was in a different
location from that of the defendant was inconsistent with the plaintiffs own
admission that the land subject matter of dispute between the parties was the
same.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>